Zelensky: Ukraine must be able to launch up to 1,000 drones a day at Russia

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on August 28, following a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, that Ukraine's defense industry has been tasked with sharply increasing production of long-range drones.

According to the president, Ukraine's defense forces currently use an average of more than 300 drones per day, but the goal is to multiply that figure to as many as a thousand drones a day for long-range strikes on Russian territory. Zelensky said the target is concrete and achievable.

He justified the need for such a multiple increase by pointing to intensified Russian aerial terror and the massive use of jet-powered "Shahed" drones. The president said Kyiv faces constant, back-to-back air raid alerts, with jet-powered Shaheds specifically getting through, while other Ukrainian cities and communities — including Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Chernihiv and Dnipro regions, as well as Kherson — also face continuous strikes.

At the same time, Zelensky demanded faster production of interceptors capable of effectively neutralizing Russia's jet-powered drones.

Economic pressure on Russia

Zelensky said systematic Ukrainian strikes on targets inside Russian territory are already producing tangible economic and logistical effects. Russia is facing a significant fuel shortage, forcing it for the first time in its history to import gasoline and subsidize its oil industry.

The president added that Russia's losses will grow further unless it shows readiness to seriously discuss ending the war. He cited military reports on the port of Novorossiysk, noting that no ships are currently entering or leaving it. Every day without movement at Novorossiysk, he said, reduces Russia's capacity to wage war. He pledged that Ukraine would find ways to block other Russian ports as well.